Chương 17: Stabilization
"You okay, Elliot?" Manny asked between gasps, visibly exhausted as he glanced sideways at his partner.
"I'm fine," Elliot replied coldly, his gaze fixed straight ahead. "But I can't say the same for this bastard."
It didn't hurt to carry him; Jordan was just another jerk on his list of problems. But he knew that letting him die would only fuel the chaos within the group. Not to mention that losing Jordan would only further complicate the mission to recover Leah. "We're going to keep him alive… for now," he muttered to himself.
Meanwhile, Abby led the group with Mel, Nora, and Owen following close behind. Their eyes frantically darted around the surroundings, looking for any sign of shelter as they kept their weapons ready. The noise from the earlier gunfire had attracted infected, and the echoes of grunts and shuffling footsteps mixed with their own gasps.
"We need somewhere now!" Abby shouted, her voice filled with frustration as she pointed to a small, half-ruined building a few feet away. "There! It's better than staying out in the open."
"Are you sure it'll be clear?" Owen asked, adjusting his rifle as he eyed the structure.
"We won't know until we try," Abby replied without hesitation, her tone curt.
Mel, trailing behind, shot a fleeting glance at Elliot as she cautiously moved forward, her rifle clutched to her chest. She knew he was just as worried as she was, but Elliot wouldn't show it. His cool calm was a mask that, for some reason, only made her feel closer to him.
When they reached the house, Owen pushed the door open forcefully, revealing a dusty, dark interior. The small building looked like it had once been a workshop, with rusty tools and fallen shelving scattered everywhere.
"Clear the place," Abby ordered, as Owen and Mel split up to check every corner. Elliot and Manny carefully, though not without effort, lowered Jordan to the ground as Nora quickly knelt beside him.
"Damn," Nora muttered, lifting Jordan's bloody shirt to assess the wound. "This doesn't look good. The bullet is lodged inside, and he's losing too much blood. We need to stop this already."
Mel joined Nora, her hands shaking slightly as she searched through her backpack. She pulled out a small first aid kit they'd found earlier and began preparing bandages and disinfectants.
"Can you do something?" Abby asked, leaning over them with a frown, her concern evident.
"We can stabilize him," Mel replied, focusing on the wound. "But if we don't get the bullet out soon, he won't make it through the night."
"And how do you plan to do that without the proper equipment?" Abby replied, her voice tense.
Nora looked up, her face hardened. "We're doing what we can, Abby. Now, shut up and let us work."
Elliot watched in silence, his mind torn between the present and the uncertainty of Leah's fate. Finally, he walked over to Mel, leaving Manny to guard the back door. "What do you need? Whatever, just tell me."
Mel looked up briefly, her expression a mix of exhaustion and gratitude. "Just make sure no one comes in here while we're working. If those infected get in, we're screwed."
Elliot nodded, taking up position near the front entrance with machete in hand and his gun within reach. "I won't let anything happen," he muttered, more to himself than to her.
Meanwhile, Owen stood over Abby, checking the broken windows to make sure they weren't surrounded. "What are we going to do if she doesn't survive?" he asked quietly, his tone laden with concern.
Abby looked at him hard. "We're not going to let that happen. Jordan will survive, and then we'll go get Leah. Period."
"What if we can't find her?" Owen insisted, his voice shaking slightly.
Abby gritted her teeth and grabbed Owen by the arm. "Don't think like that. We're going to find her. No matter what it takes."
In the center of the room, Nora and Mel worked quickly. With precise movements, Mel cleaned the wound while Nora applied pressure to stop the bleeding. Time seemed to slow down as their hands moved urgently, the screams of the infected echoing in the distance like an ominous warning.
"God, this is a mess," Mel muttered, as she placed a makeshift bandage over the wound. "This will barely keep him stable, but it's the best we can do right now."
Nora nodded, standing up with a heavy sigh. "We need to rest and think about the next step. We can't stay here much longer."
"There's no time to rest," Elliot said from his position, staring at the door. "If those bastards come back, we'll be trapped like rats."
The atmosphere grew even more tense as Nora and Mel decided they couldn't wait. "We have no choice, we have to get the bullet out now," Nora stated in a firm tone. "If we don't, he'll bleed out before dawn."
"And what the hell are we going to do it with?" Abby asked, crossing her arms as she looked at the makeshift tools Mel had pulled out of her backpack: a rusty pair of tweezers, a hunting knife, and a lighter to sterilize them with.
"With this," Mel said, adjusting her gloves as she tried to hide the trembling in her hands. "It's not perfect, but it's what we have."
"How bad will it be?" Owen muttered, looking at Jordan, who was still unconscious but breathing irregularly.
"There's no anesthesia," Nora replied as she lit the lighter and passed the tools over the flame. "So if he wakes up... it'll be hell for him and for us."
Elliot watched from the doorway, machete in hand, senses on alert. The echo of the infected still echoed in the distance, but it was getting closer. "Hurry up. We don't have time," he warned without taking his eyes off the outside.
Mel and Nora exchanged glances before getting to work. Nora pressed a piece of cloth against the wound to absorb the blood as Mel sank the forceps into Jordan's abdomen. The rusty metal moved slowly, searching for the bullet. The wet sound and slight crunching made everyone in the room tense.
Suddenly, Jordan began to move, emitting a low growl that quickly turned into a cry of pain. "For God's sake, stop!" he screamed, his body arching in an instinctive attempt to escape the pain.
"Hold him!" Nora screamed, as Mel struggled to keep the forceps in position.
Owen and Abby rushed to restrain him. Owen grabbed his shoulders as Abby pressed his legs to the ground. "Hold still, damn it!" Abby screamed, as Jordan thrashed like a cornered animal.
"Almost got her!" Mel said, her face covered in sweat as the forceps finally made contact with the bullet. He pulled hard, ripping the bloody bullet out with a clang. "Ready!"
Jordan's scream turned into a piercing shriek, and his eyes went wide. "I'm going to kill you all, motherfuckers!" he gasped, his face contorted in pain.
"That's what we're trying to avoid," Elliot muttered from his position, but his attention was no longer on the scene. There was something else. A new sound. "Infected."
The echo of grunts and shuffling footsteps filled the air, and Elliot turned to the group. "They're coming. A lot of them."
"Shit!" Abby exclaimed, jumping up. "How many?"
Elliot quickly looked through a crack in the wall and his jaw tightened. "Enough to make us not want to stay here. At least a dozen runners… and I think a clicker behind them."
Nora finished bandaging Jordan's wound hastily, while Mel tried to calm him down. "He can't move yet!" Nora shouted. "If we take him out now, he won't survive."
"If we stay, neither," Abby replied, adjusting her rifle. "We're going to have to fight our way through."
Jordan continued to mutter under his breath, his body still shaking from the pain, as Mel leaned toward him. "Listen, Jordan. I need you to hold on a little longer, okay? Don't die now."
Elliot turned to them, his expression hardened. "We have no choice. Mel, you and Nora hold him steady while Manny and I clear a path. Abby and Owen, cover the flanks."
Elliot adjusted his grip on his machete and took up a position at the entrance. The grunts and gasps of the infected grew louder, echoing through the halls of the abandoned building. The blood on his hands hadn't dried yet, but he didn't have time to wipe it away. Outside, the infected were about to reach the back entrance. The wood creaked as the first one hit the door.
"They're coming!" Elliot shouted as the others prepared themselves. Manny stood beside him, his rifle pointed toward the entrance. Abby stood on the opposite side, checking the clip of her pistol.
"Don't let them get too close," Elliot ordered, more to himself than to the others.
The back door couldn't hold any longer. With one last knock, the infected burst in, their gangly bodies moving with terrifying speed. The first one in, a runner with his face partially torn off, ran straight at Elliot.
With a guttural scream, Elliot raised the machete and brought it down with all his strength. The blade sank into the infected's skull with a wet snap, and the creature collapsed to the ground, still writhing. Elliot swung the machete free, kicking the corpse back as another infected lunged at it.
"Get back, shit!" Elliot roared, raising the machete once more. This time, he didn't wait. He lunged at the infected, hitting it in the head with the handle before plunging the machete into its neck. Hot blood splattered him, but he didn't falter.
Manny fired at point-blank range, knocking down two runners who got too close. "Elliot, to your left!" he yelled, turning to reload.
Elliot reacted just in time. A smaller infected, a woman who would have once had a kind face, lunged at him with her hands outstretched. He dropped the machete and met her with a blow straight to the face. The impact was brutal; Elliot felt the septum of his nose break beneath his knuckles. The creature didn't stop, though. It fell to the ground, but immediately began crawling toward him.
"Fuck!" Elliot muttered, lifting his boot and slamming it into the infected's head with all the force he could muster. The skull gave way under the weight of the blow, leaving a slimy puddle on the floor.
Across the room, Abby was firing with precision, her calculated shots taking down infected one after another. "Don't stop! If we let them in, we're dead," she screamed as she backed up toward Owen, who was bringing up the rear with his rifle.
Mel and Nora, still with Jordan, kept the wounded man covered behind a makeshift barricade made of furniture. "Don't let them get here!" Mel pleaded, gripping the rifle in her hands. Though she was shaking, she fired when an infected managed to break through the defenses. The bullet hit the chest, but it didn't stop it. Elliot appeared at the last second, stabbing his machete into the monster's skull.
"You're doing a good job, Mel," Elliot told her quickly, with an adrenaline-filled smile. Before she could respond, he was already on his way to the next target.
Suddenly, a clicker appeared in the doorway, its deformed head turning toward them as it emitted its signature click. They all stopped for a second, frozen by the sound.
"Clicker!" Owen shouted, aiming his rifle.
The monster charged toward them, dodging Owen's initial shot with erratic movements. Elliot didn't wait for it to get too close. With a roar, he lunged at the creature, dodging its bite and spinning around to strike it with the edge of the machete. The weapon sank deep into the clicker's side, but it wasn't enough to stop him.
"Don't die, motherfucker!" Elliot muttered as he prepared for another blow. Abby appeared at his side, firing three shots at the infected's body until it finally fell.
"Well done," Abby said, her breathing ragged as she took in the corpses piled around her.
The group barely had time to celebrate. From the back door, more infected were piling up. "They're not going to stop," Manny said, hastily reloading his rifle. "We have to get out of here."
Elliot nodded, wiping the blood from his machete on a corpse's shirt. "Owen, take Jordan. Abby, cover them. Manny and I will lead the way."
The infected didn't let up. One after another, runners and clickers filled the hallway, their grunts and screams filling the air. Elliot led the charge, his machete slashing with precision whenever an enemy came too close. His body, now enhanced by the system, seemed to move instinctively, dodging attacks and striking with a force that surprised even himself.
When they finally made it out of the building, the group found themselves in brief respite. However, the infected were still hot on their trail, their shadows moving through the rubble.
"Run!" Elliot shouted, grabbing Mel by the hand and pulling her along as the rest of the group followed.
End of Chapter 17.
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